In June this year, District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh sentenced to life imprisonment the three main accused, while sentencing five years in jail to three others for destruction of evidence in the case that shook the nation.
Kathua District Magistrate Raghav Langer said the order was issued after receiving numerous complaints from the district police regarding the circulation of irresponsible and provocative messages by unscrupulous and anti-social elements on the social media.
Recognising the gravity of the crime, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday heard on priority petitions of the victim's family and the six convicts in the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.
The police said on Wednesday it arrested two persons late on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district for alleged rape of a minor. "Mohammad Iqbal and Babu Din, residents of Sadrota-Lohai village, were arrested yesterday evening for alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in her home.
After hearing briefly the case, the bench headed by Justice Rajiv Sharma said the case would be heard on Thursday, when connected matters were scheduled for hearing. The father is seeking death penalty for three of the six convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in Pathankot in Punjab on June 10.
The only acquittal in the Kathua rape-and-murder case came as the trial court set aside the statement of three prosecution witnesses who had claimed that Vishal Jangotra, the son of the main culprit Sanji Ram, was in the area at the time of the crime.
Directing day-to-day "in-camera" trial, the apex court asked the district and sessions judge at Pathankot to personally undertake the trial proceedings.
The grieving father, belonging to a minority nomadic community which earns its livelihood by raising cattle, also said he has full faith in the government.
The apex court also said that hearing will be held in-camera on a day-to-day basis to avoid any delay. It further scheduled the next hearing on July 9.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, which had stayed the trial in the case till today, would deal with the prayer of the victim's father for shifting the trial to Chandigarh and the plea of the accused seeking handing over the probe to CBI.
Kathua rape and murder case is the alleged abduction, confinement, sexual assault and killing of an 8-year-old girl from the Bakarwal tribe of Jammu and Kashmir.
An eight-year-old girl had disappeared from near her home in the forests next to Rasana village in Kathua on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later.
The government’s decision came a day after Bukhari warned students against protesting, saying, “Once they come out on the roads, they should be treated as rowdies.”
New fast-track courts will be set up to deal with such cases and special forensic kits for rape cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term, according to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018.
The minister was commenting on the public outrage over Kathua incident, where an eight-year-old was raped and killed, and Unnao case, where a minor was allegedly abducted and raped by a BJP MLA last year.
"It is good if the government has passed the ordinance to award death penalty to rape convicts of children below the age of 12 years. We are hopeful of getting justice," the girl's father said.
The Crime Branch statement on the case comes in the wake of reports in print and electronic media as well as social media regarding the case registered at the Hiranagar police station in Kathua district.
The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the process to amend the penal law to introduce death penalty to those convicted of sexually abusing children up to 12 years of age has been initiated.
Amitabh Bachchan was speaking at the song launch of his upcoming film 102 Not Out, in which he stars along with Rishi Kapoor.
With amendments in 2013, the punishment for sexual offences in India is now more inclusive and stringent, but are Indian anti-rape laws at par with laws in other countries. Here is a comparative analysis.
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